4 weeks to go for @dave_the_rave98 🥊

Navigating the various demands of fight camp is always a challenge.

It’s important to have a plan but also one that can be adapted when knocks / fatigue / life-demands rear their heads. Anything too rigid will inevitably break.

Luckily Dave is always training and keeping the engine running, so it is just a case of small adjustments here and there.

The joys of working together over multiple fight camps is that we have reference points in terms of performance and bodyweight and it becomes much easier to make tangible adjustments each camp.

Ultimately it is a collaboration between coaches and the athlete, with a solid framework that allows for changes via good communication when needed.

Agile periodisation… ...

So we had a big celebration last week - one of our most valued members celebrated a milestone birthday and we (somehow) managed to surprise her!

Michele has been a corner stone of this gym since joining and not only does she impress us with her consistency to training and always bringing great energy to the gym, she has pretty much helped everyone in the gym at some stage and has never asked for anything in return.

She is the most generous and selfless person I have met. They say a gym is a reflection of the owner and to some extent, the personality trickles down - so I have no idea how she ended up here 🤣

Happy birthday @michele.goode1 🎉🎉 These were about the only non-incriminating photos I could post 🙈🤣 ...

An individualised approach in a group setting…

We are coming to the ‘business end’ of the current bench cycle. As we are building towards a heavy set / rep PR, we will be utilising different strategies when needed, in order to achieve the desired outcome.

There will be various factors taken into account when planning progressions, such as - gender, physiological age, training age, injuries etc, even down to knowing the individuals temperament, level of confidence and response to acute stress…

We might use straightforward linear progression, wave loading, clusters, back off sets - it will all depend on the individual and how the coach assesses performance over prior sessions.

These are things that are not taken into account in a bootcamp setting (sink or swim) and are hard to fine tune if the trainee is not consistent in attendance.

It works both ways, we benefit from someone committing to the gym long term but then that builds a relationship with the client whereby a more individualised and specific approach can be taken over time.

We know every member in here and where their strengths and weaknesses lie.

Building that rapport takes time and trust on both sides but we are always committed to everyone’s progress in here and grateful to everyone that puts their trust in us 🙏🏻

Looking forward to seeing more big bench numbers next week! ...

Yesterday exceeded expectations in terms of results and enjoyment!

It’s been a while since we got to make the road trip to Limerick and I’m already looking forward to next year!

We couldn’t get everyone down this time but it shows the growth of the gym that we were still able to bring home a few medals 🏅

@dmci_13 had an amazing performance in the men’s lightweight 500 race. Falling off the seat at the very start 🤣 he managed to show amazing determination and get back on (after giving everyone a few seconds head start) and win 🚀

@mermaidomeara had a strong performance in the women’s 500m to take second place.

The lads hulk smashed their way to a first place in the men’s relay 🥇 and the women came second in theirs (having not practiced transitions).

There were a few more PRs and some folks getting their first taste of pre competition nerves (and doing amazing!).

The Team Tuesdays and Thursdays with @nealisdeadly are paying off 👌🏻

Super proud of everyone ❤️

Big thanks to @rowfit_joe and all the organisers too 🙏🏻 ...

Team Tuesday… you’ll probably suffer, but at least you’ll get to see other people suffer too 😇 ...